Of the films that folks have been whispering about for weeks is Neil Blomkamp’s District 9. Some may recall Blomkamp’s name from rumours that arose last year that he was attached to direct the “Halo” film adaptation that never materialized and though the videogame adaptation died a slow death, Peter Jackson (who was apparently on board to provide some sort of support) must have really hit it off with Blomkamp. The resulting friendship is this: a film which is “presented by” Peter Jackson. Not sure exactly what that means (probably nothing) but after seeing the trailer, I don’t much care.
Blomkamp’s film brings aliens to earth and forces them to live in slum-like conditions but the aliens make a friend when a government agent is exposed to their biotechnology. I have a lot of questions about this plot: if they have biotechnology, why aren’t they destroying the humans? Why are they here to begin with? But seriously, this trailer has taken this movie from the fringes and smack dab into the middle of the map as one of the film’s on my “must watch” list for the summer. Blomkamp’s style mixes the aliens with what appears to be documentary footage and the result is pretty spectacular. Not only does it look great but the trailer also gives off a scary vibe the likes of which I haven’t felt in an alien movie since the first time I saw “V” on television.
District 9 is scheduled for release on August 14.
Check out the trailer below but I highly encourage you to check it out in HD over at Apple; it’s deserving of the load time. I can’t wait to see this trailer on the super big screen. Look for it attached to X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Movie laboratories are one of my favorite things ever. Metropolis,...
Someone mentioned to me yesterday that it was very reminiscent of “Alien Nation”. That’s a much better comparison than “V”
I really like the look of this but the comment I have is about FS.NET and the dumb logo. If you every see Row Three brand clips or images I will find the person who did it and remove their spleen with a plastic spoon. I hate it when sites do that.
Wow, this looks awesome – I didn’t read the preamble until after so it almost has the feel of a documentary.
It much more like Alien Nation than V! Looking forward to hearing more about this one!
John – I know. They were the only ones who had as embeddable trailer when I posted it at 2AM this morning. Hence the link to Apple.
Alien Nation, The Day The Earth Stood Still, V, Starship Troopers. Man this pushes all the right buttons for me. Loving it. We need more science fiction like this. 2009 is proving to be a banner year for these types of things with Moon on the horizon.
John, it is even worse when people start dropping watermarks and logos onto posters, which 9 times out of 10 throw off the effect of the one sheet.
I should also mention that this has a bit of (in conception and in style) of WILD BLUE YONDER, yet taking it out of the ambient/art-house/cult zone of Herzog’s movie and clearly into the blockbuster mainstream. I like when movies do this mix (The Fountain, Sunshine, etc.) Sadly, they often bomb in American multiplexes, but I’ll be curious as to how this one grabs or doesn’t grab the mainstream vote.
Holy shit! This looks phenomenal.
Let the viral videos begin. FU, MNU:
So we have:
9
Nine
District 9
all released in ’09. Nice.
And people are bound to confuse the title with the French Action slash Escape from New York remake “DISTRICT 13″ – which has already happened once to me today, actually.
I love the original short and I’ve been dying to see some footage from the full-lenght version.
That shot of the giant spaceship/city is amazing.
More serious original sci-fi for the people! Woo!
Slightly different version of the trailer:
Just got word the movie will be rated “R” for intense, bloody violence and vulgar language. Hopefully there will be some alien boobies as well.